


December Will Be Magic Again

by hellotomyoldheart



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eleven gets her powers back y'all, Elmax Rights, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, I hate this sm but ppl like it so it's staying up, Internalized Homophobia, Jim "Chief" Hopper Lives, LESBIAN RIGHTS, POV Eleven | Jane Hopper, Post-Season/Series 03, byler but blink and you'll miss it, very minor tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21638794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellotomyoldheart/pseuds/hellotomyoldheart
Summary: On the first of December, El kisses Max for the first time.She also gets her powers back.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 5
Kudos: 108





	December Will Be Magic Again

**Author's Note:**

> it's December and I wrote this in like three hours so it might suck and i kinda hate it. anyway I'm so excited for the holidays and I felt like writing some elmax to show that. I also missed el & max and I wanted to write el starting to come to terms with her sexuality after only learning about romance in tv and with mike. I also wanted to write her getting her powers back. I'm working on a bunch of st things that will be out soon. and I'll probably write more Christmas fics. anyway. name is from December Will Be Magic Again by kate bush. enjoy!!

On the first of December, El kisses Max for the first time. 

She also gets her powers back. 

Someone bangs on the door until El forces herself out of bed to check who it is. She grabs the first sweater she finds on the floor, one Max left the other night. She tugs it on and crawls out of bed, walking into the living room. There’s snow scratching against the window, El opens the curtains and sees Max on the front deck. She looks beautiful. Her hair bright clashes with pure white world. 

Max is wearing pink earmuffs with matching gloves, her coat is blue and wool or something and has patterns on it. She looks beautiful, El wants to hold her. 

El opens the door and Max looks at her for a moment, looks at her sweater.  _ It’s soft,  _ El wants to say.  _ It reminds me of you.  _

“Hi,” El says. She smiles and the world has never felt so loud. When Mike used to come over, everything was muffled. She wasn’t allowed to be home alone with him. He wasn’t allowed over unless Hopper was home. When Mike came over he was the only thing in her eye line because he was the only thing she knew. Yes, yes she knew the basics of math and the lessons Hopper teaches her. But she  _ really _ knew Mike. She knew his favorite song and food and color and what he liked to do on rainy days and who he cared about and why. It was easy with Mike. 

As of late, El didn’t want easy. She wanted a girl with red hair and blue eyes and dips and curves and a loudness, a beauty, Mike didn’t have.

Anyway. 

“It’s freezing outside,” Max says as El steps aside to let her in. “I can’t feel my toes. It’s shit. Happy December.”

“Huh,” El answers. She doesn’t know what else to say. The words feel like the saltwater Hopper makes her gargle with when her throat hurts. It’s all too much. 

Max plants herself on the floor to untie her boots, her earmuffs are around her neck and her coat- which was never zipped so _ of course  _ she was cold- fans around her. 

“Fuck this,” Max mutters quietly then brings her hand up to her mouth and uses her teeth to take off her gloves. “When’s the Chief getting home?”

“Six,” El replies. “He’s bringing home pizza.”

“Cool,” Max nods, she smiled up and something inside of El jumps. 

The only person she’s ever kissed, ever liked, was a boy. She’s only ever seen boys kiss girls on TV. In the mall, she’s only ever seen boys and girls hold hands or kiss or have their arms around each other. She has only seen boys, only been taught that boys should be the object of her desire. But what happens when it’s not like that? What happens when she sees Max and wants everything she had with her like she had with Mike?

One part of her looks at Max and thinks  _ run away before they catch you. This is doomed. You broke free only to come here? To want her? This is not okay. _

Another part of her looks at Max and thinks  _ go on. Do it. Nothing could happen. She’s beautiful and it’s alright. This is okay. _

Max stands up and sets her shoes by the door, she hangs up her coat and puts her earmuffs and gloves in the hood. She stands in front of El and smiles. Then she frowns when she focuses on El’s face.

“El? You okay? You look like you saw a damn ghost,” Max presses as she steps closer. All of El’s senses are flooded with Max. It feels like she’s drowning.

_ This is okay,  _ El thinks.  _ This is okay.  _

El kisses her because she can’t not. Because Max is right there and has been on El’s mind for months. Mike asked her when they officially broke up  _ is this about Max? I won’t be mad if it is.  _

And El. El had said no. It’s not. She needs space. She needs to see. 

(El almost shot back  _ is this about Will? _ )

El kisses Max because she’s pretty. Because Max walked in the cold. Because Max is  _ right there  _ and El  _ has to _ . 

Kissing a Max is nothing like kissing Mike. With Mike it was harder. Not rough but hard. Like they were trying to prove something. When Mike kissed her, she kissed him back. Mike’s lips were always tough, chapped, he smelled stronger. Sweaty and like something El could only describe as  _ boy.  _ With Mike it was like a lie. Like they were trying so hard to keep something they wanted for so long. 

Max was softer. Not completely but softer. Her lips were cold but her body radiated warmth. She smelled nicer, like the cold and peaches and her house. Max reaches for El’s forearm and clutches onto it like it’s a lifeline. Max isn’t easier but better. Kissing her doesn’t feel like a lie or like she’s trying to prove something, doesn’t feel like she’s copying what she saw in movies. Kissing Max feels like the truth. With Max, everything felt like the truth.

El jolts back and panics, her heartbeat races so fast it feels like El would never be able to catch up with it. She walks backward and bumps into the wall, raises her hands to her face and feels like crying. 

There’s a loud crash as the tears come, Max is by her in an instant- pulling El into her arms. There’s another crash and shatter, a door swings open. Max rocks them back and forth. Blood seeps down her nose, onto her lip. 

“El,” Max said, voice soft and careful. “Breathe. It’s okay,  _ this is okay.” _

For months, El had been testing her powers. She had been looking at cans of soda and thinking hard. She had been sitting in front of doors with her hands raised. She had been waiting for the sting, the release and relief, the calm in the middle of the storm. She had been waiting and hoping and praying. She had called Kali about it, who El was going to visit over Christmas. 

_ Jane,  _ Kali had said in a soft voice.  _ They will come back in time. Always in time.  _

El wanted her powers back because, even though it was terrible, her powers were everything she was. She was born to be a weapon. It was bad. Terrible. She had nightmares about it. But she needed her powers. She needed to know she still had value. 

_ You are powerful without your powers _ , Hopper told her often. _ You don’t need your powers to be powerful. _

“El,” Max whispered, stroking her hair. “You have them. Your powers.”

  
  


When Hopper comes home that night, he finds El and Max cleaning up broken glass in the kitchen, plates and bowls and cups. Music, Blondie, blasts from the radio. “What the hell happened?”

“Powers,” El answers. “I got them.”

Hopper looks both pleased and panicked. They eat dinner on napkins and use plastic cups for soda. Max laughs until her sides hurt. It makes El feel warm. 

When they go to bed, because Max spends the night, Max asks El if she meant it. 

“Yes,” El answers. “I did. I do.”

Max smiles and kisses El quickly. Because it’s okay. Because she can. Because it’s December and she has her powers back and Max is beautiful and she feels like she’s telling the truth. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you all enjoyed kudos and comments warm my heart!!
> 
> [my tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hellotomyoldheart)


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